Kids Talk Suicide And Hurricane Andrew -- Rise In Death Attempts Has Fla. Teachers On Alert

Seven months may seem like plenty of time to recover from Hurricane Andrew. But for many Floridians, coping is still a psychological challenge. And come June 1, the state faces a new hurricane season. This report, written just before last weekend's blizzard, examines how Mother Nature is affecting one segment of Florida's population: grade-school children.

MIAMI - One second-grader, an 8-year-old boy, lay down in front of a school bus.

A 7-year-old boy jumped from a second-floor school balcony.

Another second-grader tied an extension cord around his neck.

Several girls swallowed dozens of pills.

One boy burned his hair and slit his wrists.

They are among the more than a dozen Dade County elementary-school children who have attempted suicide in the past two months.

Miami-area school officials believe stress and fear resulting from the devastation of Hurricane Andrew is to blame for what has become a rise in suicide attempts by elementary-school children.

Counselors say the suicide attempts are not solely due to the hurricane. They point to other underlying troubles and see the hurricane as the trigger.

The talk of death among those so young has prompted a recent countywide alert to principals and teachers to be aware of the danger. An additional 88 hurricane intervention counselors are in the schools, but no one - teachers, administrators, parents - feels there are enough.

The alert also extends to less serious kinds of post-hurricane stress. Some children are watching the Weather Channel constantly. Some dream that a new hurricane will kill their whole family. Some dream that the hurricane is inside them.

Children attempting suicide is rare - even after hurricanes, earthquakes or floods, said Nathan Fox, a University of Maryland professor who has written on how natural disasters affect children.

"I don't know what is going on down there," he said. "That should ring all sorts of alarm bells above and beyond whatever mental health prevention is planned. You hear about middle-school kids freaking out, but you very seldom hear about second-graders. They are 8 years old, only 8 years old. Their ability to understand reality versus fantasy is still very immature."

Octavio Visiedo, Dade County schools superintendent, said he is shocked about the death wishes: "It is amazingly disconcerting and alarming. Before, we had one or two suicide attempts among elementary-school children a year. Now we are seeing one or two a week.

"The stress level is intensifying with each passing day."

Overworked counselors countywide reported in the past two months that 50 to 60 grade-schoolers talked in school about killing themselves - and in some cases had specific plans. So far, school officials know of no elementary school suicides.

School counselors in South Dade say they juggle multiple crises each day, with students walking into their offices in tears about a nightmare, or an abusive situation at home, or a worry that their parents are in some danger.

And if a storm approaches, many children become agitated. At Naranja Elementary School on March 3, an entire third-grade class scurried to a corner far from the windows when gusts rattled the roof. "They kept saying, `Miss Gaiter, Miss Gaiter, is another hurricane coming?' " teacher Gloria Gaiter recalled. "Fear was in their eyes."

As for older students? Schools have fewer reports of those in middle school and high school attempting suicide, but three middle-school students and one senior-high student have killed themselves this school year, Dade County school officials say.

Psychologists cite multiple reasons for despair among the youngest students:

-- Rising family tensions.

-- Lack of progress in rebuilding.

-- Sometimes month-to-month moving from one home and one school to another.

-- Loss of friends scattered by the storm.

-- Loss of playgrounds, movie theaters, bowling alleys, etc..

-- Resulting loneliness and boredom.

-- The start of the new hurricane season on June 1.

Earlier studies in south Dade County have reported high stress levels. University of Miami researchers found that in two schools 70 percent of the children said thoughts about the hurricane interfere with school work; 78 percent replay the hurricane in their minds.

At Naranja, counselor Yolanda Wohl's office is packed with clothes of every child size.

In one box are new pairs of underwear for children who wet their pants during the day. On a shelf is a box of sanitary napkins. More fifth-grade girls have been getting their menstrual periods this year than any in Wohl's 13 years of school experience.

And in one fifth-grade class alone, 13 of 21 students had moved; 14 said they tired more easily; 14 often had sad thoughts; 9 lost pets in the storm.

At the home of one Naranja pupil, Fernando Davalos was worried about his daughter Olinamyr's dream that the hurricane was inside her.

Olinamyr, 10, said she jumped into her parents' bed after that nightmare. "The hurricane seemed like a real thing, a spirit," she said. "My dad was the wind. And my mom was the other wind. It just got worse."

"Because we live in a trailer," Davalos said, "we all worry about another one coming. I try to protect her and my other children, but it's hard." --------------------------------------------------------------- Kids' fears

In classes at Miami's Naranja Elementary School two weeks ago, children spoke of their deepest fears. Some examples:

"I dreamed last night that I lost my family."

- Shannon Klamert, 6

"My auntie got a hurricane tape and we watch it at home all the time. I don't like to watch it anymore."

- Lacrasha Crawley, 7

"I dreamed that the hurricane was coming into my face. I locked my door and I never do that. I felt like the hurricane was coming into me."

- Olinamyr Davalos, 10

"When I have a bad dream, I go jump into my mother's bed. Or my grandmother's bed. Or anyone's bed."

- Susan Anguiano, 11

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